Bassett Birthing Center designated Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care
COOPERSTOWN – In an effort to help prospective parents find hospitals that deliver quality maternity care, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield announced that Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown, NY, is one of the first hospitals to receive the Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care designation, a new designation under the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.
Nearly four million babies are born in the U.S. annually, making childbirth the most common cause of hospitalization. This new Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program evaluates hospitals on several quality measures, including the percentage of newborns that fall into the category of early elective delivery, an ongoing concern in the medical community. Compared with babies born 39 weeks or later, early term infants face higher risks of infant death and respiratory ailments such as respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and respiratory failure, among other conditions. These babies also have a higher rate of admission to Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
“Bassett’s Women’s Health providers have been committed to educating women about the serious risks associated with early delivery from the time the Bassett Birthing Center was founded; it is a basic part of our prenatal education. As a result, we have been successful in bucking the trend the industry is seeing across the country,” observes Bassett’s Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology Dr. Siobhan Hayden. “Nonetheless, the occurrence of elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks is worrisome and we encourage attempts to reverse this trend.”
In addition to a low rate of early elective deliveries, hospitals that receive a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care designation agreed to meet requirements that align with principles that support evidence-based practices of care, as well as having initiated programs to promote successful breastfeeding. These are described in the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative by Baby-Friendly USA or the Mother-Friendly Hospital program by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) through its “Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care. The program also evaluates hospitals on overall patient satisfaction, including a willingness to recommend the hospital to others.
In 2015, 822 women delivered their babies at the Bassett Birthing Center, and January 2016 was a record month for deliveries with the obstetrical team handling a 50 percent increase in births.
Robin Stasilli, nurse manager for the Birthing Center, notes, “The 104 deliveries handled in January alone is astounding and it affords me the opportunity to thank our Birthing Center team for their constant commitment to quality of care and safety.
A 50 percent increase means there are that many more meals to deliver, rooms to clean, additional beds to prepare and more. So the work on behalf of our moms and their babies extends beyond the Birthing Center to include not just the obstetrical team but also Food Service, Environmental Services, Bed Management and more.”
Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care, an expansion of the national Blue Distinction1 Specialty Care program, are hospitals recognized for delivering quality specialty care safely and effectively, based on objective measures developed with input from the medical community.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies across the nation have recognized more than 280 hospitals as Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care. Hospitals recognized for these designations were assessed using a combination of publicly available quality information and cost measures derived from BCBS companies’ medical claims.
Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality providers for their specialty care needs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery and transplants. Research shows that compared to other facilities, those designated as Blue Distinction Centers demonstrate better quality and improved outcomes for patients.
For more information about the program, visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
Nearly four million babies are born in the U.S. annually, making childbirth the most common cause of hospitalization. This new Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program evaluates hospitals on several quality measures, including the percentage of newborns that fall into the category of early elective delivery, an ongoing concern in the medical community. Compared with babies born 39 weeks or later, early term infants face higher risks of infant death and respiratory ailments such as respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and respiratory failure, among other conditions. These babies also have a higher rate of admission to Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
“Bassett’s Women’s Health providers have been committed to educating women about the serious risks associated with early delivery from the time the Bassett Birthing Center was founded; it is a basic part of our prenatal education. As a result, we have been successful in bucking the trend the industry is seeing across the country,” observes Bassett’s Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology Dr. Siobhan Hayden. “Nonetheless, the occurrence of elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks is worrisome and we encourage attempts to reverse this trend.”
In addition to a low rate of early elective deliveries, hospitals that receive a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care designation agreed to meet requirements that align with principles that support evidence-based practices of care, as well as having initiated programs to promote successful breastfeeding. These are described in the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative by Baby-Friendly USA or the Mother-Friendly Hospital program by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) through its “Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care. The program also evaluates hospitals on overall patient satisfaction, including a willingness to recommend the hospital to others.
In 2015, 822 women delivered their babies at the Bassett Birthing Center, and January 2016 was a record month for deliveries with the obstetrical team handling a 50 percent increase in births.
Robin Stasilli, nurse manager for the Birthing Center, notes, “The 104 deliveries handled in January alone is astounding and it affords me the opportunity to thank our Birthing Center team for their constant commitment to quality of care and safety.
A 50 percent increase means there are that many more meals to deliver, rooms to clean, additional beds to prepare and more. So the work on behalf of our moms and their babies extends beyond the Birthing Center to include not just the obstetrical team but also Food Service, Environmental Services, Bed Management and more.”
Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care, an expansion of the national Blue Distinction1 Specialty Care program, are hospitals recognized for delivering quality specialty care safely and effectively, based on objective measures developed with input from the medical community.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies across the nation have recognized more than 280 hospitals as Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care. Hospitals recognized for these designations were assessed using a combination of publicly available quality information and cost measures derived from BCBS companies’ medical claims.
Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality providers for their specialty care needs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery and transplants. Research shows that compared to other facilities, those designated as Blue Distinction Centers demonstrate better quality and improved outcomes for patients.
For more information about the program, visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
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